Bøger af Olaudah Equiano

DISCOVER THE INDIGNITIES AND REALITIES OF SLAVERY FROM A CAPTIVATING FIRST-HAND NARRATIVEOlaudah Equiano's interesting narrative is an astonishing first-hand account of kidnapping, enslavement and eventual emancipation that has horrified and enlightened readers for over 200 years. The Interesting Narrative of Olaudah Equiano is a seminal work in a genre that seeks to help us better shape the present by understanding our violent past.An insightful Introduction from Atlantic slave trade expert Michael Taylor sheds light on Equiano's life, including his spiritual conversion, his wide travels, and the impact of his writing on the eventual abolition of slavery.

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Sometimes true life spins more shocking stories than the minds of writers. That is the case with 'The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano'.The understated title masks an autobiography where truth trumps fiction, featuring kidnapping, death, slavery, jail, transportation, rape, Christian faith and much more.It is also one of the most important books of its time, the late 18th century. For its publication told the truth about the trans-Atlantic slave trade, and sowed the seeds for the abolition movement that eventually stopped it.The scandal of slavery that Equiano helped get into the public's consciousness has been featured in a host of films, including '12 Years a Slave', directed by Steve McQueen and based on a novel by Solomon Northup.Olaudah Equiano (1745-1797) was known throughout most of his life as Gustavus Vassa. He was born in Benin, where he and his sister were kidnapped and sold to slave traders.They were separated and Equiano endured the horrors of transportation to the Caribbean, was sold to three slave owners and witnessed the very worst of the truly shameful trade. After buying his freedom, he lived in London and supported the British abolitionist movement.His autobiography, 'The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano', went through nine editions and helped the abolitionist movement gain the momentum that saw the British Slave Trade Act passed in 1807.

The narrative describes Olaudah Equiano's time spent in enslavement, and documents his attempts at becoming an independent man through his study of the Bible, and his eventual success in gaining his own freedom and in business thereafter.

The classic memoir of an 18th-century British former slave, and leading figure in the abolitionist movement, Olaudah Equiano. Introduced by David Olusoga, author of the highly acclaimed Black and British.

Excerpt: "I believe it is difficult for those who publish their own memoirs to escape the imputation of vanity; nor is this the only disadvantage under which they labour: it is also their misfortune, that what is uncommon is rarely, if ever, believed, and what is obvious we are apt to turn from with disgust, and to charge the writer with impertinence. People generally think those memoirs only worthy to be read or remembered which abound in great or striking events, those, in short, which in a high degree excite either admiration or pity: all others they consign to contempt and oblivion." The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano describes Equiano''s time spent in enslavement and documents his attempts at becoming an independent man through his study of the Bible along with his eventual success in gaining his own freedom and in business thereafter. Published in 1789 and attracting attention, was considered highly influential in gaining passage of the Slave Trade Act 1807, which ended the African trade for Britain and its colonies. Olaudah Equiano (1745-1797) known in his lifetime as Gustavus Vassa was a prominent African in London, a freed slave who supported the British movement to end the slave trade.

A best seller of its time, Olaudah Equiano's story of his life as a slave in the second half of the eighteenth century continues to this day to aid our understanding of the Atlantic slave trade and our fight against modern slavery. According to his memoir, eleven-year old Equiano and his sister were kidnapped from their village (in what is now southern Nigeria) by African slavers. He changed owners several times before being taken to the coast and forced aboard a slave ship destined for Barbados, ending up working for three different slave masters in journeys that took him around the West Indies and across the Atlantic. Although slavery was part of the culture of many African tribes, including his own, the Eboes, what incensed Equiano more than anything was the heartless cruelty of the transatlantic slavers. His Christian conversion also later prompted him to abhor the institution of slavery itself no matter where it was practised. Equiano bought his freedom after some 20 years in servitude and, many travels later, settled in England where, as a British citizen, he joined with white and black abolitionists to campaign for the end of slavery in Britain's colonies.

Olaudah Equiano known in his lifetime as Gustavus Vassa was a freed slave of Igbo extraction from the eastern part of present-day Nigeria, who supported the British movement to end the slave trade. His autobiography, published in 1789, helped in the creation of the Slave Trade Act 1807 which ended the African slave trade for Britain and its colonies.This book has been deemed as a classic and has stood the test of time. The book has been considered by academicians and scholars of great significance and value to literature. This forms a part of the knowledge base for future generations.